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Fundraising

Fundraising is part art, part science. It is about knowing the landscape, building relationships and perfecting the skill known as "making the ask." This page compiles resources on the many aspects involved in fundraising – including grant writing, identifying funding sources and developing relationships"

2013 Consumers Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems

Source: NTEN

Idealware and NTEN partnered to compile and release the 2013 Consumers Guide to Low Cost Donor Management Systems. The 160-page guide summarizes and compares 36 different systems, all of which cost under $10,500, gives in-depth reviews of the 11 most popular systems, and has a directory of consultants if you need help choosing or with implementaiton.

Counter-Intuitive or a New Path to Profit?: What Donors Can Teach Us About Making More Money

Source: npENGAGE

Penelope Burk, President of fundraising consulting firm Cygnus Applied Research and best-selling author, presented at Blackbaud's npNEXT 2013 conference. In her presentation, "Counter-Intuitive or a New Path to Profit?: What Donors Can Teach Us About Making More Money", she shares insights on what donors want based on annual donor surveys conducted by her firm.

The Next Generation of American Giving

Source: Blackbaud

Blackbaud released a new report on giving by generation, and they've made a slick online infographic summary of their findings. They share data on giving preferences, media habits, and the types of transactions for each generation. You can download a copy of the full report for a more in-depth look at each age group, as well.

Planned Giving Committees That Work

Source: The Nonprofit Times

John Elbare, MBA, CFP, a Florida-based philanthropic consultant to both donors and nonprofits, details the first steps for creating a planned giving committee, as well as common mistakes to avoid and best practices.

5 Indicators for Identifying the Best Potential Donors

Source: Bloomerang

Bloomerang analyzed donor data from over 400 nonprofits, consisting of over 2 million individuals with a combined giving total of over $5 billion. They determined the 5 best indicators for identifying potential major donors, all of which can be found in either your own records or publicly available data.

The Cost of Bad Data

Source: NTEN

Do you have dirty data? Having good data hygeine practices means more than just dusting your database, and can save you money while helping you raise more. Sara Rowland of International Data Management shows the real world effects of bad data, and highlights three best practices for keeping your database squeaky clean.

The Magic of the Welcome Email for New Subscribers

Source: Future Fundraising Now

Citing a recent blog post by email marketing company Emma, Jeff Brooks makes the case for welcome emails for new subscribers, which have open rates or 50%, can increase long-term engagement by 33%, and have transaction rates nine times greater than other emails.

Why Nonprofits Need to Be Storytellers

Source: Bridgespan

To Andy Goodman, a nationally recognized author, speaker and consultant in the field of public interest communications, storytelling is integral to a nonprofit’s ability to advance its mission. Stories can shape people; they can inspire them to think and act differently. Stories are what can connect your nonprofit’s community, funders, beneficiaries, and employees with your cause and vision.
In this Q&A, Goodman discusses the importance of storytelling for nonprofits and how nonprofits and their leaders and staff can approach blending powerful stories with data to advance their organizations’ missions.

Do You Really Talk Like That?

Source: Ann Green's Nonprofit Blog

Imagine that you are donor and you receive a newsletter from a nonprofit organization that you support. As you read it, you come across phrases like generate social capital and culture-focused projects. Does it make you want to read more, or put it aside and go on to your next piece of mail?
One of the keys to good writing is to be conversational. Many nonprofit communications (newsletters, fundraising letters, etc) are not conversational and tend to be impersonal and abstract.
Don't worry. it's easy to fix this. Here are a few ways to make your writing more conversational.

2013 Millennial Impact Report

The latest Millennial Impact Report, an ongoing collaboration between Achieve and the Case Foundation, contains statistics, insights, and actionable tips for nonprofits. The key takeaway, according to the report's executive summary, is that millennials are less focused on particular institutions and more concerned with the broader cause. The rest of the report covers how millennials connect and stay up to date, how they get involved, and how they give. For fundraisers looking to engage millennials, 82% of the survey respondents made a financial gift in 2012, with 52% interested in making recurring monthly gifts.

The Sustainer Bump

Source: npENGAGE

Research shows that nonprofit website traffic is down, and donor conversion rates are flat. Despite these factors, online giving has grown 11.6%. What's behind this continued growth, and what can you do to tap into it?

To Increase Revenue, Stop Selling

Source: Forbes

Creating or expanding business relationships is not about selling – it’s about establishing trust, rapport, and value creation without selling. How can this advice for the sales world apply to your nonprofit?
Read the article from Forbes.